


Face Value

by witbey0ndmeasure



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Farm/Ranch, M/M, Rich Niall
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-02
Updated: 2015-03-12
Packaged: 2018-02-11 11:49:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2067039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/witbey0ndmeasure/pseuds/witbey0ndmeasure
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry, Liam, Louis and Zayn all work for the Horan's; farm owners with a very stuck up son.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I don't claim to own anything besides the story line and the dialogue!

Liam had worked on the Horan’s farm since he was 14 years old. He was the youngest one there when he first started, but the new boy that had just been hired was a bit younger than him. Nothing substantial, but he was happy to not be the baby of the farm anymore.

Liam, now 17, was a very quiet boy. He was perfectly friendly and smiled quite often, but he never said much. Everyone there had gotten used to it. They would tell him what needed to be done, and he would simply nod and be off to work. Today he and Louis (18 years old, very chatty and told lots of bad jokes) were told to show the new boy (Harry, he was called) around the farm and then go about their daily jobs. Louis was to start walking the corn field and picking rocks (tedious work. Liam didn’t see how he enjoyed it) while Liam was told to feed and water all the animals as usual and then start to oil whatever leather he could find in the barn, as it was starting to dry out.  Harry would help Liam so he could learn how to care for the animals. There wasn’t much to learn with picking rocks.

“This is one of my favorite places!” Louis said as he slid open the door of a giant tin shed. Harry’s eyes widened a bit as multiple huge tractors and different pieces of equipment came into view.

“Whoa, do we really get to drive this stuff?” his voice was deep and he talked rather slow.

“Well, me and Bobby mainly. Greg and Niall come to help every once in a while, but Greg is getting busier with school I guess and Niall never really liked it, so that’s why we have you now! But seeing as we don’t want any missing limbs I’m going to have you stick to the bobcats for a while, until I trust that you won’t kill anyone at least.”

“And what about you?” Harry turned his attention to Liam.

“Oh no, Liam works with the animals. The barns are stinky and smelly and dark. So I told Liam that he could deal with that while I deal with working on my tan.” Louis gestured to his arms (which did in fact have a very nice tan) and Harry gave Liam a funny look.

“What’s the matter?” He drawled, “Cat got your tongue?”

“Oh Liam doesn’t really talk much. But that’s okay because I do enough talking for the both of us!” Liam rolled his eyes and gave Lou a playful shove because ‘ _oh boy was that ever true’_

Lou headed off to start his work in the fields, and Liam lead Harry over to the barns to show him around. He showed him the chickens and the ducks, introduced him to the dog, brought him into the pig barn (he had to admit, it did stink quite a bit), showed him the goats (Harry quite liked the pigmys) and finally brought him into the horse stables, where most of their work was for the day. All the while showing him where the different feed was in each place and softly telling him the right amounts. He also told Harry that he was fine with him just watching today if he wanted.

Harry leaned back against a saw horse and studied Liam as he worked. A small radio played somewhere in the barn. It sounded like it was cycling through some old country CD, and Liam hummed along as he worked. Harry never liked country music.

“So are we the only ones working here?” Harry asked. With such a big farm, Harry thought there had to be a few others.

“The only ones working outside. Louis and Bobby can get a surprising amount done in a short amount of time.”

“And you guys live here too?”

“Me and Louis. Have you seen the servant’s house?”

“Servants house?”

Liam sighed. “They like to call it the guest house. We aren’t guests.”

“Well no.” Harry said. “I haven’t seen it. They told me to leave my bags outside and someone would take care of them.”

“Zayn. He works in the house.”

“So like a butler.”

Liam nodded. “ Speaking of that,” Liam said, “it’s almost lunch.”

*

The three boys met at a picnic table under a large shade tree. And they were all thankful for the shade; it was getting hotter by the minute. Louis was just wiping the sweat off of him with an old T-shirt when there was a voice behind them.

“Look at all these lazy boys just sitting around in the shade. The farm hand life must be so easy if this is all that you have to do all day!”

“Zayn,” Louis shouted back, “that sounds to me like you would like to step out of your nice little air conditioned bubble long enough to help me pick rocks in the blazing sun and humidity! What a nice thing for you to offer!”

Zayn snorted as he reached the picnic table. “Not on your life, Tomlinson.” He was carrying a tray of sandwiches, fruit, and iced tea. They ate for lunch whatever the Horans ate for lunch. Zayn just made extra.

“Delicious as always, chef Malik.” Lou teased as he sipped his tea.

“Really though, this is, like, really good.” Harry piped in, drawing Zayn’s attention from Louis.

“I didn’t even notice you there,” he said, “you must be Harry.”

Harry stuck his hand out. “Pleasure.” He said.

The boys heard another set of footsteps approaching their table. They stopped right next to Liam.

“Liam.” The boy said. Liam looked up from his hands. “I brought Checkers down to the lake and he got filthy. He’ll need a bath.”

Louis frowned. “Checkers isn’t his responsibility.” He said. Lou often stood up for Liam when he wouldn’t stand up for himself.  “He’s _your_ dog.”

Lou was ignored. “And soon, preferably, so he can dry off before night.”

Liam held his eye contact for a moment longer, and nodded. Satisfied, he walked away.

Harry waited until he was out of ear-shot. “And who was that?”

“Niall Horan,” Zayn rolled his eyes, “always a charmer.”

Liam continued eating in silence.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys finally get to have a bit of fun on their days off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! so i think if I'm able I'm going to try and post a chapter every week? does that sound good?? Hope you like it!

After Harry had put all of his things away in their room he went outside to join the rest of the boys. Apparently they had some cool thing they needed to show him.

_“Harry, where did you grow up?” Zayn had asked while they sat at the picnic table._

_“Mainly in London. We moved there from Cheshire when I was little.”_

_Louis nodded. “Well then after we’re done for the night we have something to show you.”_

_“What kind of something?”_

_“Just wait,” he said, “you’ll love it.”_

 When he found them, he was tossed a glass mason jar. Harry frowned at it.

“Super cool guys.” He said sarcastically.

 Louis ignored him. “Have you ever seen fireflies, Harry?” He asked with a grin. Harry raised an eyebrow.

“Fireflies?” he asked, a shimmer of excitement in his eyes. “No. I sort of thought they were fake, actually.”

 Louis sighed happily and held out his hand, in which Zayn placed five dollars. “I love it when we make bets.” Lou said.

The boys all led Harry down to an open area behind the barns. The grass was tall, and the bugs loved it. There were faint blinks of light showing up close to the ground. Harry’s face lit up a bit more at the sight.

“What do we do?”

“We catch them”

“How?” Harry asked, “They’re all down in the grass.”

Grins spread wide over Zayn and Lou’s faces. Seconds later Harry was shoved head first into the tall grass.

The sudden commotion sent fireflies shooting out left and right.

Harry scrambled to his feet as to not get trampled by the other boys, who were running in to catch the lightning bugs. Harry soon learned that putting one bug into a jar without letting any of the others out was a lot harder than it sounded.

As the boys rushed back and forth in pursuit of the bugs, they forgot that they were here to work. They forgot that they were away from their families. They forgot that they were living in a small cabin in creaky bunks with no air conditioning. For a few minutes, it was just summer.

*

After Zayn had went home (he lived in his own small house a little ways away), the rest of the boys retreated inside their cabin. It had three rooms; a bedroom, a kitchen, and a bathroom. In the bedroom there was a set of bunk beds occupied by Louis and Harry, and a full sized mattress on the floor against the opposite wall. Louis had given Liam the bigger bed claiming to love bunk beds, but Liam knew he’d done it to be nice.

Liam sprawled out on his mattress as the other two boys chatted happily from the bunk beds. They told stories of when they were at home (Liam had already heard Lou’s) and often dissolved into fits of giggles.

Liam felt like he was at a slumber party. But with the window open and a slight breeze brushing over him, he decided it really wasn’t so bad. He kind of liked Harry.

*

The boys always had the weekends off. Whatever needed to be done on the farm was done by Bobby. He mainly paid attention to the animals, saying that the plants could wait a day or two. Sometimes Liam and Lou would take their days off to go back and visit their families, but Louis said he didn’t really want to drive down to the train station, and Liam didn’t want to go home all that much anyways.  

Louis thought that this was as good a time as any to give Harry his first ride in one of the bobcats.

After the three boys had changed into their swimming trunks (Liam and Lou thought that Harry would be awkward changing in the room with them. Liam and Lou were wrong.) they piled into the little flat-bed bobcat. Since there were only two actual seats and Louis was the most practiced driver, Liam stood in the back and held on for dear life. He was fine unless they hit a bump, and when they did he sometimes got some impressive air.

After about ten minutes of white knuckles for Liam they finally stopped at a small little lake with a makeshift dock and a rope hanging from a tree. It didn’t look like much, but Liam and Louis had spent three days making it the summer before; and another day just finding the boards and poles that they needed.

“You brought me all the way out here for a rickety dock and rope swing?” Harry was frowning behind his sunglasses. “How much fun can you have with a dock and a rope?” He said as he starting walking out on the dock, commenting on how he wasn’t sure if it would actually hold him.

Louis followed him out. “Did you see how high Liam bounced when I hit some of those bumps? I almost killed him! If he’s still happy to be here then you should be too!” and with that, Louis planted his hands on Harry’s back and with one hard shove sent him, flailing, into the water. The grin never left his face.

“That wasn’t very nice.” Liam chuckled.

“Yeah,” Harry shouted as he shook the water from his curls, “What the hell?!”

“He insulted the dock that I made with my very own hands. I thought it was only fair.” Lou reached out a hand to help Harry back up.

Harry instead used it to pull Louis down.

 _‘Now that’s fair.’_ Liam thought.

Liam watched as the two boys wrestled and splashed in the water. Harry was much taller than Lou, but he didn’t have quite the muscle mass yet.

Liam debated whether or not Harry needed help.

Quietly, so the other two wouldn’t notice, Liam climbed his way up to one of the lower branches on the tree. He got a firm grip on the rope, double checked his aim and pushed himself off the tree. The wind rushed by his face as he swung fast towards the water. As the rope started to arc back up he released his grip, now flying freely towards the other two.

There was a (very manly) scream from Louis as he noticed Liam sailing towards them with a manic smile on his face. They scrambled to get away, but in the water they couldn’t move fast enough!

The next second all three of them plunged ungracefully under the water as Liam crash landed on top of them.

Harry would never again question why they enjoyed the dock.

*

The boys were just walking away from the machine shed where they parked the bobcat when they saw Niall walking towards them.

“Ah, just who I wanted to see.” Niall said. There was a tone of superiority in his voice that set they boys on edge.

Louis’s voice dripped with sarcasm. “Oh, believe me Niall, the pleasure is all ours.”

Niall shot a quick glare at Louis before turning his full attention on Liam.

“Mum’s going on a ride in a bit. She wants her horse in the stables, brushed and saddled in 45 minutes.”

“45 minutes?” Harry frowned, “Bobby had us let them into the back fields yesterday. It’ll take that long just to bring her horse back!”

Niall set his icy gaze on Harry. “How long have you been here, Styles, about a week?”

 Harry opened his mouth as if to say something, he appeared to have thought better of it, and clamped his jaw shut tight.

“Do you really want to start arguing with me already?” There was a slight threatening tone in his voice. “Liam can handle it. Can’t you Liam?”

Louis sighed, suddenly sounding tired and frustrated. “Niall, seriously, it’s our day off!”

“Thank you for that bit of information Louis, but I believe I was talking to Liam.”

All three sets of eyes were on Liam, who was keeping his gaze steady with Niall.

“45 minutes.” Liam said.

A sly grin spread over Niall’s face, having gotten his way. “That’s what I thought.” He said.

*

Liam slipped into jeans and a pair of cowboy boots before he and Harry set off at a jog towards the horse stables. As they were on a time crunch, he hadn’t bothered trying to find a shirt. Harry had slipped into a pair of sweats. For some reason Liam had the idea that even if they had more time, Harry wouldn’t have wanted to put a shirt on.

“I’ll grab my horse and go find Dot (Mrs. Horan’s horse) and you’re going to wait in the barn. When I get back, I’ll saddle, you’ll brush.”

Liam grabbed the bridles he needed and started jogging down through the field. It wasn’t long before he found his favorite horse (Frankie) grazing in the shade of a tree.

“Come on sweetie,” he said to her as he slipped the bridle over her head. “We have a job to do.”

He swung himself onto her back and tapped his heels into her sides, setting them off at a canter down the field.

*

Twenty minutes later Liam rode into the stable, leading Dot behind him. He slid off Frankie and led Dot to where Harry was waiting in her stall. Harry started brushing the sand and dirt out of her fur right away as Liam ran off to grab a saddle.

“How much time?” he shouted back to Harry.

“About fifteen!”

Liam cursed under his breath as he carried the saddle, blanket and bit back to the stall. He swung the saddle and blanket on in one go and got to tightening the straps beneath it.

“Comb through the mane. Make sure there are no knots.”

Just as Liam finished adjusting the saddle for the last time, Mrs. Horan walked in. The boys stood back to let her look at their work.

“Not the saddle I personally would’ve chosen.” She said, turning up her nose.

“We oiled your usual saddle yesterday and it’s still wet, Mrs. Horan.”

She turned her upturned nose at Liam, raising her eyebrows at him.

“Yes, well, I’m sure that if you put only a bit of thought into it you could find a way to dry them faster.”

With that, she led Dot out of the stable.

Harry sighed and leaned against the wall of the stable.

“Now I see where Niall gets it.” He said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay guys well thank you so so much for reading and I would absolutely love it if you left feedback? What did you think?? I personally like this chapter better than the last.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys get the farm ready for a wedding/Harry learns to ride a horse

It had been about a month since Harry started on the farm, and everything was settling together nicely; which was good, because the boys were busier than ever. According to Bobby, a family friend wanted to have a wedding at the farm in two months’ time, and according to Mrs. Horan, everything had to look (and smell) perfect. All three boys were currently working to build a white picket fence bordering the corn field.

“After this, guys, we should start cleaning the outsides of the barns.” Liam said as he pounded the wooden stakes into the ground.

Harry set his paint brush down and took a long drink from his water bottle.

“That pig shed is going to be a real bitch to clean. And how are we going to keep it from smelling?”

Louis answered him as he continued to hammer nails in. “We’re probably going to have to keep the windows shut for about a week leading up to the wedding, and we might have to keep them inside too. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of them keel over from the heat, but does Mrs. Horan care? Of course not. She only cares that no pig is seen or smelled on the day of the wedding.”

“See no pig, hear no pig, smell no pig.” Harry said, smiling to himself. The other two both gave him funny looks.

“You know,” Harry started to explain. “Like see no evil hear no evil speak no-“

“Don’t worry, Hazza.” Louis cut him off with a sigh and a chuckle. “We got it.”

Harry smiled at the new nickname.

*

Liam Louis and Harry sat at the picnic table under the shade tree, waiting for Zayn to come out with their lunches.

Zayn showed up quickly with a tray of grilled cheeses, cups of soup, and four bottles of water.

“Made this one specially for you, Li.” He slid a paper plate in front of Liam. “Three slices of cheese, slightly burnt, and two baby pickles on the side, just how you like it.”

Liam beamed up at him before he began attacking his sandwich.

“How come I don’t get a custom made grilled cheese?!” Lou did his best to sound greatly offended.

Zayn grinned. “Because I actually like Liam.” He said with a wink.

Harry frowned. “What have you been doing all day anyways? Why are you covered in paint?”

Zayn’s mood went from playful to stressed in the blink of an eye. “They’ve got me painting walls! Can you believe that?! I am supposed to cook and do dishes and laundry and run errands, not patch up the cracks in the walls!”

“Yeah!” Louis nodded at him. “You’re a housewife, not a handyman!”

Zayn couldn’t help but grin a bit as he pointed a finger at Louis. “And that, Loulou, is why I will always like Liam better. He doesn’t say mean things about me.”

“To be fair,” Harry laughed. “He doesn’t say many nice things about you either.”

*

The boys had moved to sanding down the gates to the pastures, which turned out to be quite the process. Harry first had to sand off the old paint with a coarse grain, then Liam followed him with a fine grain to smooth it out, and finally Louis wiped the gate down with paint thinner to get any last bits of paint and dust off. And only when they were completely finished could they repaint them.

After scrubbing the last bit of paint from the gate they were working on, Harry stopped to survey the other boys. All three of them were wearing bandannas tied around their faces to prevent them from inhaling paint dust.

“We look like cowboys.” Harry stated.

“Wrong.” Lou said, “I have product in my hair. Cowboys don’t use hair product.”

 _Neither should farm hands_ , Liam thought.

A few moments later, Harry spoke up again. “I’ve always wanted to be a cowboy.” He said, grinning to himself.

“Have you ever ridden a horse?” Louis asked.

Harry scoffed. “I grew up in London. Where do you learn to ride a horse in London?”

Liam sat back on the ground, having finished his sanding. “I’ll teach you.” He said.

Harry looked a little startled.

“Well, I mean, I guess if you want to. It’s not like you have to, but if you want-“

“I do. We’ll start Saturday.”

“Then maybe someday we could go over to the states; out west, you know. Then you could feel like a real cowboy.” Louis said, smiling and winking at Harry.

Harry smiled at him. “I’m going to hold you to that.”

*

Saturday came, and with that came Harry standing nervously in one of the pastures with a long piece of twine.

“Liam,” he said. “What’s this for?”

“Before you can ride a horse, you have to catch it. If they see you coming with a bridle in your hand, they’ll usually run away. So, twine.”

Harry looked back at Liam, a little shocked. That was the most he’d ever heard Liam say at one time. Liam, though, mistook it for a look of confusion.

“We have a little bit of a walk, I’ll show you when we get there. For now, just tie a loop knot in the end.”

*

A short while later the boys stepped out of the woods and into a large, open pasture, speckled with horses grazing in the summer sun.

“Pick one.” Liam said to Harry.

This proved to be a much bigger challenge than Liam thought it would be. Harry walked up to at least six different horses, pet them all for a minute, spoke softly to them, and then walked around each one, inspecting it. Liam could tell that he was looking for something specific, but for the life of him, he had no idea what it was.

And then, just as he was turning to walk back towards Liam, one of the horses walked up to him and nudged his back with his nose.

“Okay, this one, hands down!” Harry shouted back to Liam.

*

Liam had shown Harry how to fasten a halter out of the twine, and with that Harry led the horse back to the stables.

“You go find a halter; any one of the nylon ones should do. I’m going to grab you a saddle.”

Harry’s hands shook a little as he grabbed a halter and slipped it over her head. He patted her nose as he waited for Liam to return. It was soft as velvet. He soon returned carrying a blanket and a sleek black saddle, and threw them both onto her back in one go. She huffed a bit as the weight landed on her, but she didn’t move. Liam frowned at her for a minute, then shook his head. If Harry noticed the slight look of worry on Liam’s face, he didn’t ask.

“This one’s hers,” Liam handed Harry a bit. “I want to see if you can put it on.”

Harry inspected it for a minute, noticing a delicate engraving on either side. On one side was a small engraving of a lake surrounded by cat-tails. On the other…

“Kaya.” Harry read. “Is that her name?”

Liam simply nodded as Harry squeezed her jaw the way Liam had shown him, and after a minute successfully clipped the bit into place.

*

To everyone’s surprise, Harry had done completely fine. Louis had gone a little white when Harry told him which horse he rode, but Liam felt it was important that the rider picked their horse themselves.

“She didn’t even try to throw you off a little?” Louis asked.

Harry seemed to be getting a little offended by all the questions. “Look guys, just because I hadn’t ridden one doesn’t mean I suck. Maybe I’m just good with horses.”

“No.” Zayn said. “Liam is good with horses. He’s been thrown off Kaya more times than we can count. Nobody rides Kaya.”

Harry’s eyebrows shot up as he looked across the table at Liam. “You never told me that! Why did you let me ride her?”

Liam just shrugged. “You did fine.” He said.

In the distance the boys heard the front door on the house open and close. Louis groaned quietly when they saw Niall walking towards them.

He stopped at the table with his arms folded across his chest.

He started talking, looking at nobody in particular.

“So I was coming home from town today and I saw…I mean, I couldn’t help but notice…” he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Harry, were you riding Kaya?”

Harry looked a little startled, being as Niall almost exclusively talked to Liam.

“Yeah, why?”

Niall ignored the question. “She didn’t try to throw you off or anything?

Harry shook his head. “Not once. She was just fine.”

Niall drew his bottom lip into his mouth as he frowned in the direction of the horses’ pastures.

He made a small humming sound in the back of his throat and nodded.

“’S all I wanted to know.” He mumbled before turning and heading back for the house.

The boys all stared at each other for a moment. As usual, Louis broke the silence.

“What the hell was that?” he asked.

“Kaya’s Niall’s horse.” Zayn said. The other three frowned at him.

“What do you mean?” Louis asked, “I’ve never seen Niall even near the pastures.”

“He used to spend almost all of his time out there.” Zayn said, “They got Kaya just a few weeks after I started here. Niall is the only person who she’s ever let ride him. I’ve never seen a person and an animal share a bond like that. I swear, she’s the only thing I’ve ever seen him care about. She’s his horse.”

They were all silent for a second, probably trying to imagine Niall Horan actually caring about something.

Harry groaned suddenly and dropped his head onto the table.

“Niall’s going to kill me!”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm pretty sure this is going to be the last chapter before the actual wedding! Mainly just a filler, not too many plot points, but it does delve a bit more into a few of the characters heads!

Zayn could feel a headache beginning to bud.

“This is ridiculous,” He said, “I can’t believe we have to call you master Horan. Master! For fucks sake, we aren’t slaves!”

Niall rolled his eyes as he grabbed his lunch from Zayn.

“You think that’s bad? You should hear what mother dearest told _me._ ” Niall raised his voice, doing his best impersonation of his mother. “’ _Now Niall dear, I expect you to do your best to avoid talking about Zayn and the farm hands. Now, if you_ must, _they are to be referred to as ‘the help’, do you understand?’”_

Zayn was shocked.

Niall continued talking. “I’m not doing that. I mean, damn, you guys are people. You have names for a reason. And it’s not like you _have_ to work for us. You come here every day, you do all the work that she doesn’t want to do; you’d think she’d be a little more appreciative.”

As Niall handed Zayn his already empty soup bowl he was, if possible, even more shocked.

“Another, please.”

Zayn ignored him and set the bowl down on the end table.

“Now, hold on a second.” Zayn said, “You think that your mother should be more appreciative of us? I must say I’m flattered, but just the other day you made Liam _wash your car_ , which is _not_ his responsibility, and didn’t say so much as a thank you!”

Niall simply stared at him for a moment before turning his eyes back to the TV.

“More soup please.”

***

Liam wasn’t sure what time it was anymore. Louis and Harry had fallen asleep quite some time ago, but somehow Liam just couldn’t seem to do the same. For some reason, and this wasn’t something he was at all willing to admit, he couldn’t stop thinking about Niall. Liam wouldn’t go as far as to say that he hated Niall, he wouldn’t say he hated anyone, but he for sure couldn’t stand him.

For the past few days Niall had laid off on him considerably. He had asked Liam to wash his car, but Liam really didn’t mind that too much. It was quite a hot day and the water from the hose was nice and cool.

So why was Liam so upset?

In the back of his mind, he knew why. Ever since Niall had seen Harry riding Kaya, Niall had turned his attention to the younger boy. Not only did Harry have his attention, but Niall was even _nice_ to him. It wasn’t like they were about to be best friends, but he was perfectly decent. That was something that he had never been towards Liam.

And as much as Liam didn’t want to admit it to himself, he was jealous.

But, for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out _why_.

Niall had been ignoring him. He wasn’t popping up out of nowhere with random chores that Liam shouldn’t have to do. He didn’t even look at Liam when he came up to them anymore. He would talk a bit with the other boys, mainly Harry, and then he would leave without even sparing Liam a glance.

_‘It’s probably just the sudden change, that’s all.’_ Liam thought, _‘I’m just not used to it. I’m just confused.’_

And oh boy, was he ever confused.

***

Niall sighed as he stared out his bedroom window. From there he had an easy view of the barn that the boys were working on repainting.

Well, half the time they were working on it. The other half Harry was drawing large naughty images in the wet paint with his finger, while Louis laughed and Liam shoved him out of the way to paint over it.

In all honesty, Niall couldn’t wait for this whole wedding to be over. He was sick of being fitted for suits, he was sick of pretending to be high class, and he was sick of taking dumb etiquette classes.

He’d had (what he hoped was) his last one yesterday. His mother looked comically appalled when he’d ask if, in the scheme of things, it really mattered which fork went where.

He wasn’t sure if he was ever going to hear the end of that.

Niall chuckled a bit as he watched Louis smack a big red handprint onto the seat of Liam’s pants. At first, Liam seemed to just shake his head and let it go, leading Harry to spin behind him and add his handprint to the other side.

Niall could hardly believe it as he watched Liam run his hand smoothly over the paintbrush before landing it, _smack,_ onto Harry’s groin.

Harry fell to the ground as both Liam and Louis hooted and gave a paint-smeared high five.

Within a few seconds Harry was on his feet, and the boys were in a full blown paint fight. Brushes and rollers were flying as the boys smacked and smeared each other with red. Niall laughed and shook his head, hoping simply that his mother wouldn’t find out about the wasted paint.

When he turned his attention back to the barn, Liam had snuck away; probably intent on getting himself out of the line of fire. Niall felt a blush rise quickly to his cheeks as he watched Liam shrug off his shirt and begin cleaning the paint off of himself with it.

Niall had seen Louis shirtless many times, but never Liam.

And Liam’s body was simply a work of art.

Niall couldn’t bring himself to look away as he stared at chiseled, tanned torso. He watched the muscles in his chest move as he ran the shirt over his face and hair.

“Holy shit.” Niall muttered. The farm hand life had done Liam well. He couldn’t stop watching the way his biceps moved as he rubbed the shirt over his arms.

Suddenly, he froze.

Niall’s eyes jolted up to his face, only to see that Liam was staring straight back at him.

Niall’s heart seemed to stop for a moment before he jumped sideways out of his chair, so quickly in fact that he gracelessly tumbled to the ground, smacking his chin right on the corner of his desk on his way.

Sharp throbs of pain shot through the whole lower half of Niall’s face. He groaned loudly as he gingerly cupped his chin in his hands.

_‘I can’t wait for this fucking wedding to be over.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys liked it! Please leave comments, I would love to hear what you think! :D


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day before the wedding

Louis twisted his hands together with a worried look on his face as he found Liam. Louis wouldn’t quite look him in the eye as he stood in front of him. He drew his bottom lip into his mouth and dropped his hands to his hips before finally meeting Liam’s gaze.

“Niall needs your help.”

Liam immediately felt a hot blush run up his cheeks. Niall hadn’t even looked at him for almost two weeks.

“Well,” Liam swallowed hard, “Well that’s no big deal. What does he need?”

Louis ran a hand through his hair and shook his head. “Bobby didn’t say much; something with silverware or something.”

Liam frowned. “Where is he?”

There was a moment’s pause.

“In the house.”

***

Liam stood on the front porch, staring at the door. Zayn was the only one allowed in the house, and other than him, only Louis had been inside.

 _It’s not even a big deal,_ Liam thought, _I’m just going in to fold some silverware. Mrs. Horan isn’t even home. I’m fine._

His hand still shook as he knocked on the door. A moment later Zayn shouted for him to come in.

He stepped through the door and found himself in a brightly lit living space. Large picture windows let cascades of sunlight fall onto the soft cream carpets and dark leather couches. Family photos hung neatly on the wall and a large plush blanket was strewn across the loveseat.

“Shoes off!” Zayn came out to meet him tossing a dusting rag over his shoulder. “I spent all of yesterday making sure these floors are spotless and I don’t plan on cleaning them again for quite some time.”

“I don’t want to be in here.” Liam muttered as he slipped off his shoes. “Niall should’ve asked Harry for help. They seem to get on fine.”

Zayn looked at him a little uncomfortably. “He actually asked both Harry and Louis first, but they insisted they had to finish decorating the barns.”

Liam’s whole demeanor shifted from nervous to disappointed.

“Awesome.” He quipped. “Now could you please just show me where he is. I want to get this over with.”

Zayn directed him down two hallways, and to the right.

***

Liam took a deep breath to calm himself, and stepped through the open walkway into a large, bright sunroom. Niall was sat on the floor. Next to him were boxes of silverware and cloth napkins.

He looked up for a moment and nodded tightly at Liam. If Liam didn’t know better, he would’ve sworn he saw Niall blush.

“Sit.” Niall said. “We’ve got to have 200 sets of silverware rolled by tomorrow night, and so far I’ve got about forty.”

Liam sighed and sat down. If he was being honest, he was sure there were more productive things he could be doing today than this. Niall pushed a couple boxes towards him.

Liam started grabbing at the materials and realized he had no idea how to fold silverware. He tried watching Niall, but the boxes blocked his view. He had to ask.

“I don’t- I don’t, um, how do you-“ His face felt as if it were on fire. He dropped his gaze down to where his hands fumbled with the napkin, mentally kicking himself. He couldn’t even get out a simple sentence.

Niall stared at him for a second before pushing the box off to the side, giving Liam a clear view.

“It’s easy,” he said. “Watch.”

Liam caught on quickly and they worked in silence for a while, until Niall spoke up again.

“You can talk to me, you know. I’m not going to punch you or fire you or whatever it is you’re worried about. I couldn’t even fire you if I wanted to.” He paused for a moment and frowned. “That came out so wrong. I don’t want you to be fired. You’ve never done anything wrong, plus the other three would really miss you, and-“

Liam cut him off. “Niall, it’s fine.”

This time Liam was sure Niall blushed.

“I’m not afraid that I’m going to get fired or anything. I just don’t have much to say; to anyone, really.”

Niall snorted. “I don’t believe that at all. I bet you have a ton to say. I refuse to believe you’re that boring.”

Liam didn’t know how to reply to that.

***

It had taken them a little under an hour to finish the folding, and for some reason even after they had finished, neither of them had gotten up. At one point Niall had slid over closer to Liam, ‘gotta get out of the sun’, he said. Niall had been asking him all about what he does, and how to feed all the different animals, and why the ducks never liked him; Liam figured Niall just wanted to keep him talking.

And talking to Niall was easy, somehow. His voice was smooth and soothing and for some reason Niall actually seemed interested in what he had to say. Not that the other boys didn’t, but they were always so busy and distracted. Niall, on the other hand, smiled and nodded when Liam told him about the pregnant cat who’d moved into one of the barns a few weeks ago, and how he had secretly been bringing her food and water whenever he fed the horses.

He was just explaining how touchy the ducks can be when he felt Niall place a hand on his cheek.

“Niall what are you-“

Niall shushed him. “Don’t move.”

Liam was too stunned to argue, and just like that, Niall’s mouth was on his.

Liam’s mind went blank. The second he realized what was happening, he frantically tried to push Niall off of him.

“What the fuck Niall!” he hissed.

“Shh, it’s okay, nobody will know, it’s fine.” Liam could see him start to lean in again.

The next thing he knew, Liam’s fist was connecting with Niall’s cheek.

With Niall being in such close proximity, it wasn’t a very hard hit, but he fell away from Liam none the less.

They both sat in a stunned silence, neither quite believing what Liam had just done.

Niall slowly moved his hand to cover his cheek. Liam couldn’t see his face.

“Get out, Liam.”

“Shit, Niall…Niall I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to-“

“Don’t apologize,” Niall said, “just get out.”

Liam quickly shuffled to his feed and all but fled the house.

***

Louis and Harry had finally stopped bugging him to tell them what happened, but only because they’d both fallen asleep. Liam, on the other hand, was still wide awake.

He couldn’t stop thinking about what Niall had done. The lager part of him was appalled that Niall would do something like that without making sure Liam was okay with it first, but a very small part (which he was actively trying to suppress) couldn’t stop thinking about how soft Niall’s lips were on his. He couldn’t stop remembering the way Niall’s laugh sounded when Liam had told him a story about being bitten by a duck, or how beautiful his smile was when Liam told him that he couldn’t wait for the cat to have kittens.

Tomorrow was the wedding, and Liam would have to pretend everything was fine, while waiting on him hand and foot; but after tomorrow that was it. He could go back to his nice, comfortable jobs, his nice interactions with his nice friends, and hopefully getting a nice night’s sleep.

_I just can’t wait for this wedding to be over._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the super long wait for this chapter! school and work have kept me so busy, and I just havent been able to write at all lately. Tonight I just decided that it was about time I got something out, so I sat down for two hours straight and finished this chapter. Tell me what you think, love you all for reading this!!!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I would love to hear any feedback (good or bad) that you might have!   
> -Jackie


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